U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,191,615 and 4,840,602 describe toys that respond to signals transmitted from a different location. In one example, the signals are RF signals. In another example the signals are encoded light modulations which are carried as part of a TV transmission or as part of a video recording. The disclosures of all the patents and publications mentioned herein are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,880 and a corresponding PCT publication describe toys having a two way communication link with a computer. This link may be used to provide instructions and also to download programming to the toy.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,945 describes a set of one or more toys that are controlled by a RE signal transmission. The signal is decoded from a vertical blank period signal of a children's movies and the actions of one or more toys (sounds, motion), are synchronized with the movie using the transmission.
Outside of the toy-field, mechanical models of populations of animals have been constructed. In a particular example, a population of mechanical toads has been constructed to analyze and display the interactive behavior of such animals, for example setting of croaking sound levels.
However, a child often plays with a plurality of toys and simulates interaction between them.